Motoring_24_Oct2015

SATURDAY, 24 OCTOBER, 2015
Wired inspiration
Zamazulu pupil shows his Zulu’ngenuity in apprentice competition
MADLALA Khulekani from Zamazulu
Secondary School in greater Edendale
is one of seven Grade 12 pupils
from across South Africa who made
it to the finals of the Jaguar Land Rover
Apprentice Competition 2015, to
be held on October 30.
The competition formed part of
Jaguar’s third annual Apprenticeship
Roadshow and challenged pupils
who study Maths and Science to create
a propelled vehicle using recyclable
materials.
If Khulekani’s design is judged to
show the most creativity, motivation,
innovation and engineering insight,
he will win R10 000 as well as
R20 000 for his school.
The roadshow had Jaguar Land
Rover visiting over 10 000 pupils at
75 schools in South Africa and forms
part of its commitment to addressing
the shortage of technical skills in the
country.
Each roadshow exposes high
school pupils to career opportunities
in the motor industry, with local dealers
on hand to encourage pupils to
apply for the Jaguar Land Rover Apprentice
Programme. The roadshows
focus on rural and township schools
to give equal opportunities to pupils
in these areas.
“Right now the industry is not delivering
the technical skills required
by the marketplace, in terms of capacity,”
says Brian Hastie, Network
Director of JLR SA and SSA. “We’ve
embarked on this journey to meet the
immediate need for highly qualified
individuals who can be deployed
across our dealer network.”
Interested students can visit their
local Jaguar or Land Rover dealership
Madlala
Khulekani from
Zamazulu
Secondary
School in
Edendale is one
of seven pupils
in SA who
reached the
finals in the
Jaguar Land
Rover Apprentice
Competition
with this
propelled model
made from
recyclable
materials,
including the
surfboard on the
Landy’s roof.
PHOTO:
SUPPLIED
to apply for the Apprenticeship Programme.
— WR.
• Interested pupils can also apply
online for the Apprenticeship Programme
on jagapprentice.co.za or
www.lrapprentice.co.za.
Why the Ferrari and Elio shares ring a Joule bell
ALWYN VILJOEN
GREEN Car Journal this week named the
Hyundai Sonata mid­size sedan, including the
Sonata Eco, Sonata Hybrid and Sonata Plugin
Hybrid, as a finalist in the 2016 Green Car
of the Year award in the United States.
PHOTO: QUICKPIC
TOYOTA RECALL OVER
HOT WINDOW SWITCH
TOYOTA is fixing 60 709 cars sold in 2012 that
may have a power­window glitch that presented
a fire risk.
Toyota SA said 75% of these vehicles have
already received “service action” at Toyota dealers
in SA.
The recall is an extension of a 2012 special
service campaign action that involves 6,5 million
vehicles globally. The affected models are:
• Auris (manufactured from 2006 to 2008)
• Corolla (2006 to 2010)
• Yaris (2006 to 2010)
• RAV4 (2006 to 2010)
Toyota said: “The remedial action involves inspecting
the window switch board and applying
heat­resistant grease to the switch to ensure
smooth operation. If necessary, the switch
board is also replaced.
“At this stage it is not yet clear how many
additional South African vehicles will be affected
by the current international recall action.
“Toyota South Africa Motors will make this
information available as soon as confirmation
of the potentially affected vehicles is received,”
the company said in a statement. — WR.
TWO carmakers are selling bits of
themselves in the U.S., but both investments
look a lot like that shortcut
that takes you to the dry cleaners.
Fiat Chrysler, which owns 90% of
Ferrari, started selling 10% of this
stake on the New York Stock Exchange
on Wednesday. Stock analysts
described the trade not as buying into
a car builder, but into a luxury brand.
Demand nevertheless quickly outstripped
supply, keeping the price at
the higher end of $48 to $52 (R645
to R700) range. Fiat is keeping the
share hot by limiting supply to 10%.
Eventually, however, Fiat plans to
sell off its entire 80% stake in Ferrari
(with Piero Ferrari keeping the remaining
10%).
The laws of supply and demand
dictate this will lead to a price slump,
which is why analyst Martin Tilier advises
investors to wait for the slump,
rather than pay top dollar now.
Tilier’s best advice, however, is to
invest in Fiat Chrysler, which provides
better prospects than Ferrari.
In Detroit meanwhile
Ferrari is not the only rarely spotted
car to pimp itself to shareholders.
Elio Motors has for the past two
years been touring America to tout
ownership — both of its enclosed
trikes and the company — to all comers.
For the trikes, Elio Motors is offering
four levels of “expressions of
interest” in its trike, starting at a $100
“I­want­in” level; and going up to a
$1 000 “I­am­all­in” stake.
Individuals can also reserve interest
for an equity stake in Elio Motors,
which its founder Paul Elio compares
Paul Elio (left) has big dreams for his sleek trike in the U.S, which will be all the more credible when he
actually puts Elio trikes on roads, like Scoot did this week in San Francisco with Nissan’s electric quad.
PHOTOS: SUPPLIED
to Tesla Motors during its “cheap”
days as a start­up.
Elio recently explained his mission
to change the future of America’s
commute during a TEDex Detroit
talk.
He said he plans to build the trikes
in an mothballed GM plant in Shreveport,
Louisiana, giving jobs to 1 500
Americans in the factory and as again
many in downstream manufacturing.
The company has also signed an
agreement with auto­servicing franchiser
Pep Boys to have future Elios
repaired in cities across the U.S.
To date, over 45 000 people have
“solidified their place in American automotive
history” by reserving a stake
in an Elio trike.
Practising what Elio preaches
In San Francisco, another city transport
visionary, Michael Keating and
his team of tree­huggers this week answered
riders’ demand for small cars
by rolling out Nissan’s little tandem
“quads”.
Ten of these two­seater electric
cars will join Keating’s 400 electric
scooters that already provide rental
rides from designated garages all over
the Bay area as part of the Scoot Network.
Keating compares electric bikes
to healthy salads; electric scooters to
smoothies; and cars to steaks.
On this scale Nissan’s little electric
car qualifies as biltong — not quite
as healthy for the city, and its commuters
as a salad­bike, but not as
much overkill as a steak­car.
Keating and his team are already
practising which Paul Elio preaches
and in comparing Keating’s quiet
Scoot quad roll­out to Elio’s ongoing
marketing since 2013, this observer
was reminded of the Joule electric car.
South Africa’s taxpayers paid over
R300 million to see just one running
Joule built between 2009 and 2012,
and that using off­the­shelf technology.
Despite also constantly announcing
its plans with almost as much fanfare
as does Elio Motors, the Joule
company closed down in 2012, claiming
lack of funding. Here’s hoping all
those Elio fans are not being led down
the same Joule path.
• alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
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